1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an improved bearing cup structure and a thermal module thereof. With the bearing cup structure, the heat dissipation area of the thermal module is increased to greatly promote the heat dissipation performance. Moreover, the assembling time is shortened to lower the manufacturing cost.
2. Description of the Related Art
Following the development of electronic industries and techniques, all kinds of electronic products (such as computers) have been more and more popularly used and widely applied to various fields. With these electronic products, the data are processed faster and faster. When operating at high speed, the electronic products consume much power and generate high heat at the same time. In order to make the electronic products operate stably, a high-efficiency heat dissipation unit is necessary.
With a computer taken as an example, when the computer operates at high speed, the central processing unit (CPU) in the computer will generate high heat to result in unstable operation of the CPU. In case the heat is not efficiently dissipated, the temperature of the CPU will rise very quickly to cause crash of the computer. In some serious cases, the CPU may even burn down. Therefore, it has become a critical issue how to quickly conduct out and dissipate the heat generated by the CPU and other heat-generating components.
Conventionally, a thermal module is arranged on the CPU to dissipate heat generated by the CPU. The thermal module is mainly composed of a fan and a heat dissipation unit. The fan is locked on the heat dissipation unit, while the heat dissipation unit is disposed on the CUP. The heat generated by the CPU in operation on one hand is dissipated by the heat dissipation unit and on the other hand is carried away by the wind blown to the heat dissipation unit by the fan. Accordingly, the heat is continuously carried away from the heat dissipation unit to avoid overheating of the CPU and thus avoid deterioration of working efficiency of the CPU.
Please refer to FIGS. 1A and 1B. FIG. 1A is a perspective exploded view of a conventional thermal module. FIG. 1B is a perspective assembled view of the conventional thermal module. The conventional thermal module 1 includes a fan 10, a base seat 11 and a heat dissipation unit 12. The heat dissipation unit 12 has a main body 121 and multiple radiating fins 122 extending from the main body. The base seat 11 is fixedly disposed on the main body 121. Multiple locating sections 111 extend from a periphery of the base seat 11. Each locating section 111 has at least one locating hole 1111. A locking member 13 is passed through the locating hole 1111 to lock the base seat 11 on the heat dissipation unit 12. Such thermal module 1 has a structure necessitating a large axial room so that the thermal module 1 has a considerably large volume to occupy much space. The locating sections 111 locked on the heat dissipation unit 12 occupy a certain height and area so that the base seat 11 must have a sufficient height for installing the fan 10. As a result, the resistance against airflow of the fan 10 is increased. This will affect the heat dissipation performance of the heat dissipation unit 12 and reduce the heat dissipation area of the radiating fins 122.
Moreover, the locating sections 111 must be locked on the heat dissipation unit 12 by means of the locking members 13 passing through the locating holes 1111. Such assembling process is quite time-consuming so that the manufacturing cost is increased. Furthermore, the base seat 11 and the locating sections 111 are generally made of plastic material. When molded, the base seat 11 and the locating sections 111 are subject to deformation. This will affect the precision of the size of the product.
According to the above, the conventional thermal module has the following shortcomings:
1. The heat dissipation performance is deteriorated.
2. The heat dissipation area is reduced.
3. It is time-consuming to assemble the components.
4. The manufacturing cost is increased.
5. The base seat and the locating sections are subject to deformation.